CMU Hires New Head Soccer Coach

FAYETTE - Central Methodist University Athletics announced Ben Massena as the school's new head soccer coach. Massena comes to CMU from Lincoln College in Illinois. He served as the head coach of the men's team since 2003.

In 2011, the National Soccer Coaches Association of America named Massena as the West Coach of the year. He also holds the awards of Region 24 Coach of the Year, NJCAA Midwest District Coach of the Year and Mid-West Athletic Conference Coach of the Year. In the past four years, Massena has coached six NJCAA All-Americans and two Region 24 Players of the Year.

Massena led the Lynx to a 55-14-8 mark during the last five seasons. The team finished in the top five in the nation in 2010 and 2011. Lincoln also went to the NJCAA Region 24 championship game last season.

Vice President Ken Oliver commended Massena on his winning record."He had tremendous success at Lincoln, and we want to build a dominant program in Fayette."Oliver also commented on Massena's efforts to build a successful academic program. He claims his teams maintained a 3.15 cumulative GPA. "He is excited for the opportunity to coach at CMU, and we're happy to welcome him into our family."

In 1998, Massena played professional soccer in Ireland, followed by a season in Vancouver British Columbia, Canada. Dan Schmidlin will now coach just the women's team. He previously coached both the men's and women's teams. The Central Methodist Eagles finished last season with a 9-8-1 record, making last year its third straight winning season.